LUCIAN'S P.O.V.
"Lucian… I met a man in the town I ran to. Because of him, I had to run away from the town. And I'm sure he's coming after me, even as we speak."
The moment Teresa's words hit my ears, I felt like someone had yanked the rug from under my feet and replaced it with a bed of nails. My jaw tightened, and a deep, unsettling tension coiled in my chest like a snake getting ready to strike. A man? Ares, restless as ever, was already losing it, pacing in my head like a caffeinated hamster on a wheel.
"What man? Why was she even talking to a man? And why in the world did he seem to matter enough to make her run?" Ares was growling, spitting, and throwing a pity party all at once. And then came the guilt trip: "This is on you, Lucian. You pushed her away. Congratulations, genius. Now there's another man in the picture."
